From the Archive: Prada’s Broadway Bow

by · WWD
Miuccia Prada and actors from "On the 20th Century" with Prada's nylon travel luggage on stage, 1978.Nick Machalaba/Fairchild Archive

Prada, known for its unique advertising positioning, took to Broadway in 1978 to stage its Stateside entry. Keeping with fashion’s theatrics and its own brand of kitsch, Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli introduced the brand’s now-iconic nylon luggage and small-leather-goods line in New York through a one-night-only event.

The luggage, used as playful props, appeared onstage during the chorus sequence of the hit Broadway musical “On the Twentieth Century” at the St. James Theatre. As DNR, WWD’s sister publication, noted, the moment was especially exciting and nodded to the brand’s history. The brand’s founder, Mario Prada, had traveled on the 20th Century Limited when in the U.S., while its Milan shops in the era featured murals depicting the streamlined Art Deco luxury passenger express.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Prada’s first stand-alone store in New York, which opened in 1996 on Madison Avenue, making its Broadway debut in 1978 — a fitting prelude to the brand’s playful, theatrical approach to fashion and its American expansion.

You May Also Like